Fighting
by moeruhoshi
Summary: Sometimes best friends fight.


**back at it again with another one-shot eyy**

**my tumblr is really livin it up**

**I thank you for reading hoes**

**HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO RM AND YEONJUN THO**

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The classroom door slammed open, the sound of its crash in the sliding frame startling everyone and the teacher. In the doorway stood an out-of-breath and slanty-eyed student with his shirt untucked and hair still messy from sleep. The teacher didn't bother saying anything as he grumbled and trudged his way back to his desk, all the while glaring at the blonde who turned her nose up at him and refused to acknowledge him.

The class let out a collective sigh of relief as the crazed pink-haired boy quickly fell asleep per his usual routine, allowing their lesson to continue in peace.

This stressful arrival of Natsu Dragneel had been going on for about a week, everyone adapted to his dramatic disruption. Even the teacher let his behavior slide because it was such an unprecedented ordeal, no one knew what to do.

Natsu Dragneel was fighting with his best friend, Lucy Heartfilia.

The two had been fast friends since the young age of seven after Lucy transferred into their school. It was almost as if they were meant to be friends that even the gravitational pull of Earthland couldn't keep them away from one another. And it was painfully disgusting to watch two obviously in love people, to act so lovely with one another, without thinking of each other as anything but friends.

The 'don't you love him/her' questions tired out long ago, as their answers refused to change;

"Of course I do, they're my best friend!"

Booooring.

So, when Lucy came in one morning without Natsu attached to her hip, people were quick to catch on; those who were out of the loop.

It all started when Cana asked Lucy to fill in as a part-timer for her friend's bar.

"It's a really chill place, I swear! Bacchus hires the best bouncers, and they know how to keep us safe. It's near the office district, and those guys really know how to tip!" The brunette whined, kneeling down in front of Lucy currently rummaging through her fridge.

"I don't know…Capricorn always makes sure I get money when I need it, and that sounds a bit sketchy. We're still in high school, how are you even allowed to work at a bar?"

"I get paid, he gives me booze, and he's real handsy when he's drunk," Cana snickered to herself, the blonde rolling her eyes and feeling a bit of heat on her cheeks as she knew what Cana meant.

"That doesn't convince me, you know I don't like it when you drink," Lucy huffed, raising a brow as she passed her friend, who was still on the floor, the bowl of fruit she'd been looking for.

"Okay, so maybe I don't drink all that much, I'm just in it for the cash and Bacchus, he knows what I—"

"Don't! I don't wanna know," Lucy shivered as she pulled out whipped cream and a jar of chocolate-hazelnut spread. "How long do you need me there?"

"Just two weeks! Not even, only ten days! He's waiting for the new girl to come in, but she can't until then. All you'd have to do is take orders, I'll go with you, and we'll ride the train home, yeah?" Cana bounced up, setting the bowl onto the countertop, clasping her hands together and quivering her bottom lip as she begged more.

"…Alright, but ten days only! I'm never going back into a bar until I'm old enough!" Lucy sighed, holding back a smile as Cana jumped up and hollered, not forgetting to glomp the blonde with a tight hug.

"Yes! Awesome, I knew you'd say yes! I'll go call Bacchus and give him the good news,"

The real drama only picked up later that night, when Natsu and Lucy were speaking over the phone; their usual nightly ritual.

"What?! You're not serious, are you?" Natsu's sharp voice spoke through the other end of her cellphone, Lucy having to lower the volume in time with his loud shout. "Cana works at a friggin' bar, that's no place for you, Lucy."

Strike one.

"What's that supposed to mean? She said it'll be safe, and we'll be going home together too, I don't see the problem," She clutched a plushie close to her chest as she laid on her bed, back against the mattress. Her face slowly began to turn sour as Natsu's voice screeched back again.

"That's how girls get snatched, Luce. Downtown, at night, with a bunch of drunk pervs around. What're ya gonna do when someone grabs your ass? Or, god forbid, follows you home? You can't protect yourself, that kind of thing'll be more trouble than it's worth,"

Strike two.

"You wanna say that again, Dragneel? I can damn well protect myself, I'll have you know. There are bouncers for a reason, to deal with handsy customers. And like I said, I'll be going home with Cana, so can you chill?"

"Chill? Fuck that, there's no way I'm letting you go. I'm takin' your ass home tomorrow, you're not going anywhere with Cana,"

Strike three.

"Oh, really? Who the hell do you think you are? You're not my dad, Natsu. I can do whatever I damn well please. Don't even think about taking me home tomorrow, better yet, don't even talk to me! I'm not a baby, nor do I need you to protect me!"

"Listen to yourself, would you?! How stupid are you being right now?! It's not safe, think why don't you!"

And so, here they were. Natsu continued to run into school late as Lucy had stopped calling to wake him up, which also stopped his use of transportation. Her house (mansion) was several streets up from his, her chauffeur usually picking him up on the way too. There went his lunch too, as she never had minded cooking for her best friend.

"Are you really still ignoring him, Lu-chan?" Levy asked, the girls having a separate lunch away from the guys on the roof. "We're all pretty worried about you guys,"

"Of course I am, that jerk started it," Lucy huffed as she took an angry bite out of her rice ball. "I've been working at Bacchus' place all week, and I haven't had any problems yet,"

"Like I told Lulu, Bacchus runs a good place, Natsu needs to get over himself," Cana nodded in agreement, taking from the pile of rice balls Lucy made for sharing. Or more like to get rid of…since she unconsciously made too much rice to accommodate a certain someone's lunch she was no longer preparing.

"Juvia has to agree with Cana-san, Lucy-san knows how to be safe, and Erza-san taught us all self-defense," Juvia said with a bit of a sigh as she picked at her lunch. "But Juvia does miss eating lunch with Gray-sama,"

"Do you think you two will make up anytime soon?" Erza asked, the redhead surprisingly having yet to interfere and beat Natsu up out of instinct.

"Not until he apologizes,"

"She's the one who needs to apologize!" Natsu shouted angrily as he stuffed his mouth with another piece of bread that he bought at their school's convenience store.

"I don't see how, you basically told her she was weak," Gray rolled his eyes for the millionth time that week as Natsu endlessly let out his steam.

"Even I don't call the shrimp weak, I know better," Gajeel scoffed, ignoring the glare his cousin faced him with.

"I know Luce ain't weak, but it's not like she's been out so late at a fucking bar before for Christ sake," The pink-haired boy groaned as he sat to lean against Jellal. "Who knows what could happen, even if she's with Cana and even if she can beat some perv up, I'm still gonna worry,"

"You know you're the one who has to apologize, right?" Jellal said as he wrapped his arm around Natsu's shoulders, ruffling the grump's hair as he grumbled and begrudgingly agreed.

But Natsu knew there was no way he could even try having a calm conversation when she was still working at that filthy bar, filled with filthy men probably having filthy thoughts about his best fucking friend…! Yeah, there was no way he could do it.

It wasn't that he thought she was weak or that she needed him to protect her…gah, maybe it was as simple as that. She was in no way weak, but she still needed him! More like, he just needed to know she was safe, even if it meant he was acting like her guard dog. Natsu could barely sleep knowing if she was okay or not, which is why he usually ended up waking up so late and catching up on sleep in class. At least there he could calm down knowing she was okay.

It was finally the last Friday that Lucy had to work, the blonde more than ready to toss aside her apron and change back into her school uniform. Bacchus paid her handsomely, of course, making the two tiring weeks seem just a little bit worth it. She was ready to get her free time back.

"Cana, are you ready to go?" Lucy called out as she left the locker room and entered the staff's break room, raising a brow as the brunette peeked her head out of the men's locker room.

"Do you mind going home by yourself tonight? I'm a little busy with—"

"Don't even tell me, I'll be fine, see you on Monday," Lucy groaned as she scurried out of the staff exit, not wanting to catch the slightest bit of confirmation of what she was up to.

She zipped up her jacket and walked briskly through the semi-crowded streets, feeling a bit more on edge now that she was going home alone. Not that she was scared, but felt more comfortable when she had walked this route with Cana. It wasn't a long walk from Bacchus' to the train station, Lucy able to breathe easier under the bright florescent lights above the train track.

There weren't many people around, Lucy looking down at her phone to see that it was well past midnight.

"…Crap, I didn't tell Capricorn I'd be out this late, he might not have sent the car to pick me up," She mumbled to herself, sighing as she boarded the train and sent a quick message to the head butler that hopefully had yet to fall asleep.

Lucy had yet to receive an answer by the time she arrived at the station nearest her school, groaning as she rethought her options.

It was a two-mile walk to her house…one she was not willing to make at this time of night. It was cold and creepy and if Lucy was being totally honest with herself, didn't it feel like someone was watching her?

Mustering her courage and pushing aside her pride for a moment, she dialed the number of the one person she hoped would answer his phone this late.

"…Luce?"

"Hey, Natsu. Sorry to call you so late, were you sleeping?"

"Nah, I couldn't. What's up?"

"I'm stuck waiting at the train station, Capricorn hasn't messaged me back and it's been a while…think you can come get me?" Lucy knew before she finished her sentence that Natsu was already tossing on his clothes, the hurried ruffle of a jacket and the jingle of his keys sounding through her end of the phone.

"I'll be there, five minutes tops. Imma take my dad's bike, okay? Don't move,"

"Yeah, thanks Natsu,"

"Anythin' for you, Lucy,"

Lucy smiled to herself and felt the fluttering of butterflies in her stomach as she hung up the call, patiently waiting on the corner of the street for him to roll up.

"Is that you, Lucy?" A sudden hand on her shoulder startled Lucy as it turned her around, a tall and familiar man with purple hair staring her down.

"O-Oh, Hughes! You scared me," The blonde laughed off his random appearance, smiling politely as the older man began to make light conversation. He was a regular at the bar, Lucy having taken his order multiple times over her brief position, but…had she ever seen him on her route before.

"Sorry about that, I saw you cans couldn't help myself from saying hi," He chuckled, not bothering to remove his hand from her person. "I'm going to miss seeing you at the bar, I heard it was your last day."

"Really? I was only there for a little while," She said, eyes shifting around as she noticed the street was totally empty.

"Yeah, but it's better than Cana whipping her attitude around," He laughed again, his hand now rubbing up and down her bicep. "If you're not doing anything right now, do you want to get some late-night coffee?"

"Um, you know, I'm actually waiting for––" Lucy squeaked as he wrapped his arm around both of her shoulders, pulling her close to his side as he forced her to walk alongside him.

"I doubt anything's open around now, but we can get a can to drink in the park,"

"No thank you, could you let go? You're making me uncomfortable," Lucy said as she pushed him away, gripping the strap of her school bag as she backed away from the purple-haired man.

"What's with that? You were all smiles during your shift, where'd that go?" Hughes frowned and snatched her wrist in his grasp, pulling her back towards the crosswalk aimed towards the park across the street. "C'mon, you need to loosen up, we'll have f––"

Lucy flinched as a fist rocketed past her head and smashed square in the middle of Hughes' face, swiftly knocking him onto his ass.

"I'd've hit your ass with my bike if it was legal! You better keep your hands off my girl or I swear you'll end up dead!" Natsu bellowed as he stood over the sniveling man who held his bleeding nose. Hughes quickly crawled away on his palms as the wild-looking boy practically foamed at the mouth.

"Oh my gosh, Natsu, thank god you're here," Lucy whimpered as she fell into his arms, comforted by the warmth of his body that immediately spread to hers.

"You okay? Who the hell was that guy?" Natsu asked as he pressed a kiss upon the crown of her head, his hand running soothingly against her back.

"Some…someone from Bacchus' place…I think he followed me out here," She shivered, tightening her grip around Natsu's torso. "I'm okay, can we just go home? To your place?"

"Yeah, let's go," He said as he led them both back over to Igneel's hotrod, driving them away from the empty street corner faster than a speeding rocket.

It wasn't long before they were pulling into Natsu's garage and going up to his room, the Dragneel son glad that his parents were gone for the weekend.

"I needa apologize, Luce," Natsu said as he sat on his bed, facing his headboard against the wall as Lucy changed into his clothes behind him. "I shouldn't've gotten so mad at you, I was being an ass."

"No…I know you were worried about me," Lucy began as she tossed her clothes into a random corner, slipping on one of Natsu's t-shirts before joining him on the bed. "And you were right, just look at what happened today. If you hadn't shown up when you did…I really don't know what could've happened."

"That sleazeball, I swear I shoulda ran his ass over, fucker deserved it," Natsu grumbled as Lucy wormed her way into his hold, her breaths soft as she leaned against his chest.

"I think you broke his nose, that's good enough for me," The blonde giggled as her best friend chuckled, the two of them slowly realizing just how much they missed one another.

"I never want to fight like that again, Luce. I missed you so so so so much," Natsu groaned as he flopped onto his side, taking Lucy down with him.

"I missed you too," She grinned as he snuggled closer to her, the familiar sound mimicking a happy purr rumbling from his throat. "It's no fun when we're apart."

"You got that right, the guys all suck, you know? I actually missed having Juvia and Erza around too, I always figured they were nuts compared to you and Levy, but the only sane one around was Jellal. And his hugs aren't nearly as good as yours,"

"Why were you hugging Jellal?" Lucy snickered, Natsu clicking his tongue before going on to explain.

"Whaddaya mean? I needed to hug someone when I was all upset! And it wasn't like I had ya around to do it with any longer," Natsu pouted.

"I'm gonna tell Erza that and see how jealous she gets," Lucy laughed as she sat up for a moment, reaching towards the end of his bed to pull the duvet over them. The air was silent for a brief period of time as their conversation seemingly came to an end, Natsu's eyes unable to leave the moonlight thrust on Lucy's form as she sat up.

"You know," Natsu started, clearing his throat and propping himself up on his elbow as Lucy laid back down. "You know you're my girl, right, Lucy? And I'll do anythin' to protect ya,"

"Yeah…yeah, I know," She smiled softly as he pressed his forehead gently against hers, soon falling into a gentle sleep knowing that she was okay tonight.

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**imma play some video games**


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